C.: d.c., now that the Astros’ pitchers combined on a no-hitter last night, are you willing to talk about your favorite baseball team again?
d.: Yes, Cal.E., I am. Christian Javier is an immensely talented pitcher, as the whole nation (and most of the world) were allowed to experience last night. This is the second time he has spearheaded a no-hitter on the nation’s East Coast, the most densely populated area of the United States. People from my “neck of the woods” would say that Javier has ice water running through his veins, because he never lets anything bother him. The raucous crowd was quieted early, and the rabid Philly fans began to head for the exits in the seventh inning. Javier never even changed the expression on his face!
If this had happened forty or fifty years ago, Christian probably would have been allowed to pitch until he allowed a hit. If he never did, he would have been in until the end of the ninth inning. However, the Astros want to be extremely cautious with the talented pitcher, so they took him out before he had thrown one-hundred pitches. The next three Astro pitchers pitched their best games, because they all wanted to be part of a historic game. They succeeded, as did the Astros, in more ways than one.
If any of the readers of this blog are in their late forties or fifties and watched baseball as younger people, they may recall a young pitcher named Mark “The Bird” Fidrych. “The Bird” earned his nickname by his strange mannerisms on the mound. At six foot three and rail thin, the curly, blonde-haired Fidrych would stalk around the mound, flapping his arms as he talked to the ball. He looked like the Sesame Street character “Big Bird” when he did this. The nickname stuck.
“The Bird” was allowed to finish twenty-four games during his rookie season. He was a sensation who never quite became who most baseball pundits believed he would be. Many accredited this fact to him “burning out his arm” his rookie season, finishing so many games and throwing so many pitches.
My all-time favorite pitcher/athlete/person, Nolan Ryan, once famously threw 135 itches in a ten-inning no-hitter, and lost the game. Ryan pitched until he was forty-five years old, and still could hit triple digits as a middle-aged man. Ryan pitched his final no-hitter at the age of forty-four, against the defending world champions. A Nolan Ryan, though, comes along once in a lifetime (if even that). The more likely scenario is young pitchers throwing out their arms when asked to pitch too long, as Fidrych did.
Fidrych’s promising career only lasted five years. He was never the same pitcher after his rookie season. The Astros are being cautious with their young pitchers. Luis Garcia rarely pitches over five innings, and Javier is limited to around one hundred pitches in most games. Being an established pitcher, Framber Valdez is usually asked how he feels about continuing after he has pitched his customary six innings. He is old enough to know when he is too tired to continue, as is Justin Verlander.
In conclusion---
C.: Wait! I haven’t gotten a word in edge-wise, d.c. When you start talking about how great Nolan Ryan was and how no one will ever compare to him, you get carried away.
d.: I’m sorry Cal.E., did you have something to add?
C.: Just this.
A one, a two, a one, two, three, four…
Houston has the Astros
The Greatest baseball team
They hit the ball from line to line
And homer in between
Their batters are amazing
Their pitchers are sublime
Christian Javier
May be the greatest of all time!
We’re the….Houston Astros
Houston Astros
Houston Astros number one
The Rockets are a young team
And the Texans are just bad
But the Astros are a dynasty
That will make the Phillies sad
We’re the…Houston Astros
Houston Astros
Houston Astros number one!
d.: That’s all the time we have for today, folks.
LET’S GO ASTROS
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